1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to display panels and light source modules used therein, and more particularly to a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel and a light source module used therein.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various display panels and display panel devices have gradually become the mainstream of the display devices. For example, various display screens, household flat panel TVs, monitors of personal computers and laptops, display screens of mobile phones and digital cameras are typical products using the display panel extensively. The display panels are currently divided into self-luminous display panels including organic light emitting diode (OLED) panels, and non self-luminous display panels requiring external light sources, such as liquid crystal display (LCD) panels.
Due to the volumes of various electronic devices using display panels keep reducing, the thickness of the display panel has to be reduced as well. FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a conventional LCD panel. As shown in FIG. 1, the display panel includes a light guide plate 10, a reflector 15, optical films 20, a light source 30, a lower substrate 40 and an upper substrate 50. The light source 30 is disposed on one end of the light guide plate 10, and the reflector 15 is disposed under the light guide plate 10. The light produced by the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 10 through the end of the light guide plate 10, and is distributed on the light guide plate 10 through the reflection of the light guide plate 10 and the reflector 15. The optical films 20 including a diffusion sheet, a brightness enhancing film, a polarizer or other types of optical films are disposed above the light guide plate 10. After the light produced by the light source 30 leaves the light guide plate 10, it immediately passes through the optical films 20 for further optical treatment. The lower substrate 40 and the upper substrate 50 are disposed above the optical films 20, and a liquid crystal layer is disposed in between. A thin film circuit is disposed on the lower substrate 40 to control the liquid crystal molecules. The light passing through the optical films 20 goes into the lower substrate 40, and generates images through the upper substrate 50 after passing through the liquid crystal layer.
In this conventional display panel, numerous processes through the light guide plate 10 and the optical films 20 are required in order to produce uniform light output from the light source 30 and polarized properties. However, the light guide plate 10 and the optical films 20 occupy a certain percentage of the overall thickness of the display panel. Accordingly, how to reduce the overall thickness of the display panel by integrating and minimizing the use of the light guide plate 10 and the optical films 20 is an important issue.